User Reviews

I got this as part of a mixed 12 pack of 4 different beers - 3 of each kind. It turns out that back in the 1820's Wisconsin Dells was known as Kilbourn City and that is where this beer gets its name from. 12oz brown bottle with no freshness date.

The beer poured a cloudy burnt orange color, which as one reviewer pointed out is a bit darker than most APA's. It produced a fluffy 2-finger white head that lasted a few minutes and left tons of nice lacing on the glass.

Huge tangerine citrus smell along with some piny hops and a bit of sweet malt.

The smell and the taste match up perfectly. Juicy tangerine flavor with decent pine hop bitterness balanced off quite nicely with a sweet malty base.

Creamy mouthfeel with medium body and moderate to medium carbonation.

This is a very tasty offering from this brewery. Glad I have 2 more bottles in the box.

This is probably the most well balanced American style pale ale I've ever drank. Slightly Maltier than most pale ales yet loaded with and abundantly dry hopped. Try to get the cans as the freshness and aroma seems to be more preserved than the bottle. Absolutely love this beer, not many others can compare.

Pours soft, frothy, off-white head that has really nice persistence. A really, really nice hop aroma; Sweet, citrusy resins. Hazy, straw-amber color. Starts with a startling hoppiness; piney citrus with a medium bitterness. Citrus rind peaks at a medium high bitterness, right before the malt comes through. The citrus rind mellows, but lingers, into the finish. Notes of grassy green hops come through at the very end.

This is pretty good. I was pleasantly surprised. Nice hoppy profile without being off-puttingly bitter.

Appearance: Pours with a burnt orange color. Half a finger of head on the pour which dissipated to the edges of the glass while drinking. Carbonation is above average for the style.

Smell: Light caramel and toffee jump out first with some floral hop notes in the background. Some slightly resinous pine opens up on the body with a lingering gummy sweetness. There is a maple syrupy sweetness lingering as well, unique aroma.

Taste: Chewy malts stick immediately to the palate. Taffy, grass, orange peel, and bitter pine come together on the body. Gummy malts pop up on the back end. The finish is lead and mainly dominated by bitter pine which dries out and gives off some herbal, earthy flavors.

Mouthfeel: A pleasantly sweet front is matched in intensity on the back end with heavy palate punishing hops. Carbonation fits.

Overall: Not something I would want to drink more then one per occasion, but a unique pale for sure. Certainly not another boring pale, so props for that.

On tap. In a pitcher. Poured in a standard pint glass. Clear dark orange-amber in color. Forms a moderate sized foamy head. Good retention; decent lacing. Aroma isn't much. Toast and caramel malts with some earth hops in the mix. Taste is s bit better. Mild caramel malts and a bit of juicy citrus hops before turning more earthy and bitter. Medium mouthfeel. Moderate bitterness - more than expected actually.
A rather drinkable amber ale (its not an APA, and to be fair the menu calls it an amber ale as well).

look is a deep amber orange, dark for an apa. smell is hard to pick up, but what's there is enjoyable: floral and citrus hops. taste is well hopped but has a good amount of roasted malts. there's oak, spice, pine sap.

Appears a dark amber to brown with a white head. Almost no lacing left on the glass.

The nose is bitter with nice earthy, pine and some hints of citrus. The first sip offers a good caramel backbone with the same hop notes as the nose. There is a stronger pine flavor here and it comes through fairly well.

The body is medium to medium-full with average carbonation levels. Overall, a decent brew, but not something to seek out with all your heart. My second favorite option from the sampler I chose. This is a good APA, but I've had much better.

Sometimes it pays when your wife heads to the Dells for a Girlz Weekend. She came back with a growler of beer from Moosejaw. The Kilbourn Hop Ale was a cloudy/hazy amber with not much head (was a day old in the growler...may have affected the head). The aroma was nice and hoppy with subtle apricot and spice. The taste was good...fresh hops and pine with good citrus start. The beer was very easy on the mouth and could drink a few of these at a sitting with no problem.

I had this as a part of their 5oz sampler package in their bar which you get 10 of their tap beers to try.

Seems a lot of people rated this one fairly high and maybe I just got a bad sampler draft, but I really didn't care for this one. Pours a cloudy medium amber color with average head. There is the scent of some hops lingering over the beer. The taste is hoppy as well but it seemed rather watery. There was a vast difference in the texture. Out of the 10 samples I tried, this was my least favorite, but like I said maybe I just got a bad draft.

A- This beer pours a hazy deep orange body with a brown hue to it and a lumpy oatmeal head that last a good bit and a gentle carbonation of slow bubbles.

S- The green herbal hops has some citrus notes along with green citrus pith but not at all bitter. There is a light caramel malt note that comes through as the beer warms.

T- The dry woody pine hops flavor has a green citrus note and a nice spicy hop finish that is bright but full. There is some caramel malt that comes through as the beer warms.

M- This beer has a medium mouthfeel with no astringency or alcohol.

D- The nice hops flavor is mellow with no bitterness at all and is full on flavor. There is a nice depth with the woody, green citrus notes and it is pretty dry overall. Good to have a few pints of on a hot day.

Light brown color and really not much going on for a head. Maybe a hint of lacing. Malty at first blush, but the hops comes on quickly. The nose doesn't allow the hops to present as dominant, so it reads a bit malty. The flavor allows the hops to come on rather quickly however. The mouthfeel is decidedly thick for a well hopped beer. The finish is clean and leaves the drinker with a sweetness in the mouth that adds a nice balance to the hops. I am impressed with the balance of this beer, yet it seems to operate as individual parts and flavors. Its balance comes from the presence of both malt and hops moreso than from the confluence of the two.

Pours a clear, dark amber color. 1/4 inch head of a white color. Good retention and decent lacing. Smells of hops mostly and slight sweet malt. Fits the style of an American Pale Ale. Mouth feel is smooth and crisp with an average carbonation with noticeable bitterness. Tastes of sweet/floral hops, slight sweet malt, and a hint of pine. Overall, a good brew.

This is a dark amber brew, darker than I expected, but clear, with a small whitish head.
It has a hoppy, floral aroma, medium body and is surprisingly well balanced, a lot more like an Elgish pale ale than an american pale ale. Spiced, a nice amount of sweetish malts balancing the hoppy bite.
Nicely done.

The Kilbourn Hop Ale was bright red and clear. The beer was very crisp and the heavy hop flavor really made it full of character. The hops are Kilbourn hops and while they definitely impart a fruity flavor they don't resemble Cascades or Willamettes, at all. The fruit character is almost more like a berry rather than a citrus flavor. It was hopped enough to almost be an India Pale, but it was definitely just a well hopped APA. Wonderful brew, worth the discovery.

All in all a well rounded, well done APA. I was up in the dells (as we cheesheads call it) and knew I had to get to moosejaw for some pizza and beer!! Took the girlfriend and we had a great time. This beer goes down smooth and has great hop to it, served cold to me in a pitcher from the tap, very mid to darker brown but delicious through and through. Was so good I paid $13 for a half gallon growler full of it to take back to Milwaukee with me!! :)

From the menu: Locally grown hops are harvested from Brownie Zinkes Hop Farm and are used to create this one-of-a-kind ale. Locally grown hops! I was sold before I even tried it.

Calvin brought it to me in a nice, room-temperature pint glass, thusly passing his final exam. It had a medium, off-white head with decent retention. I caught a whiff of a big, floral hop nose as soon as I leaned in. The color was a very lightly cloudy medium-amber. The mouthfeel was medium with a grassy-hop flavor on the palate. The finish was still hoppy, but with a light grainy characteristic. Yum.

Served in a lightly frosted glass. It's light reddish-brown and pretty clear, with a tiny head. Nose is mild hops, a touch of citrus, roasty malts, and grains. Taste is well-balanced hops and malts, with a hoppy finish. Mouthfeel is smooth but tangy. Not bad overall.

Amber color. The fresh hop aroma you get right off the bat is great, and I was told all the hops used are locally grown...nice. A solid use of caramel malts, but the hops take over from there and lead to a great, smooth brew that is certainly hop-driven.

I asked the bartender if there were any plans to bottle their beers in the near future, and he actually said they are planning to bottle the Kilbourn Hop Ale soon. Assuming that's done, it'll start very local for sure, but it'd be nice to see this one out in stores for more people to try.

Overall impression..this is a very good, hoppy pale ale. You can't stop at this place and not try this one.

This is a winner and my favorite of Moose Jaws brews. The hops are all locally grown and damn aromatic. Reminds me of a good English Ale, maybe even an ESB. Medium body. Large floral hop aroma with a touch of pine. Taste is all floral and fruity hops yet its not terribly bitter. This is no hop bomb to be sure, however, it is rather refreshing and very drinkable. Surprisingly smooth body for the robust hop flavor too. Great red color with a nice frothy white head.